Pairs of socks often become separated when placed with a wash load of other clothes. When one of a pair is lost, the remaining sock is generally not usable without its match. Time spent in trying to sort through multiple socks to find matching pairs is wasteful and frustrating.
Prior methods of handling such problems include tying the socks of a pair together. This is not altogether satisfactory is that it simply replaces the time spent in finding matching socks with the time spent in knotting then washing and unknotting them after washing. Loose knotting may open up during washing or drying while tight knotting tends to destroy the sock's appearance and resists unknotting.